Wednesday, November 13, 2013

An Indian take on Pajeon, a Korean Spring Onion Pancake

I was searching for ideas to make vegetable pancakes and came across this Korean Spring Onion Pancake featured on maangchi.com. This Spring Onion pancake is similar to the Indian paratha where a vegetable and flour are the main ingredients. My pancake is a little of the Pajeon and a little of the Paratha recipe. The Pajeon uses all purpose flour and soybean paste and since I try and avoid all purpose flour and did not have soybean paste, I substituted these with whole wheat flour and a little salt. I am sure the pancake lost on the soybean paste flavor which I will try some time if I lay my hands on it here.

Any recipe including green vegetables is apt for this time of the year since the markets are currently flush with fresh greens. The green onions that are currently available are the tender with small bulbs and are just apt for this pancake. Do try this recipe, it is very healthy due to the amount of greens that go into each pancake.

Ingredients

Spring / Green Onions / Scallion - a handful

Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup

Water as required

Salt as per taste

Oil to apply on pan

Use only the tender greens stalk and the small thin bulbs for this recipe. I had selected a mix of small and medium sized bulbs from the vendor and realized that not all the stalks are the tender green kinds that this pancake needs. So I sifted through them and got the ones I wanted.

Wash the stalks and bulbs thoroughly in water and peel off any wilting layer from the bulb. Line these up on the cutting board and cut them evenly into 2 inch long pieces. If the bulb are a little thick slice them lengthwise. Mix the whole wheat flour with salt and as much water as needed to make a flowing batter.

Now heat a pan and spoon a few drops of oil and spread with a spatula. Keep the heat on low and Lay the spring onions and the bulbs on the pan lengthwise so you have veggies arranged in a column forming a rectangle shape. Then slowly pour the batter little by little all over the veggies and with the spatula help to spread the batter all over the veggies and push and tuck the batter around the veggies to maintain the rectangle shape. When it firms up and the bottom is golden brown, flip it over and let it cook. Keep the heat on low initially so the pancake cooks through and then raise it to medium heat to brown and crisp both sides.